I found the videos and readings for this week very interesting, specially the reading on Catalina de Erauso. I find her story and character very fascinating! From the very beginning you get a sense that she doesn't feel like she belongs. I don't believe she would have just left due to the altercation she had with one of the sisters she mentioned. I feel that this pushed her over the edge and left due to a variety of reasons. She even goes on later about how she needs to get as far away as possible from that place! Nevertheless, it must have taken a lot of bravery to run way and try to survive by yourself at such a young age , specially being a girl.
The reading also made me wonder what it must have been like for a Transgender in that time. Did she know who she was? Did she want to become a man because of all the opportunities it presented or did she always feel like she wasn't a woman? She was also able to disguise herself very well. Did she have the characteristics of a man? Back at that time there was no make-up or plastic surgery to transform your gender. All she mentioned was that she cut her hair and voila! She managed to trick everyone in her life that she was a man. She even managed to kill of dozens of men and win back her flag from an army of indians. (I hope this was not exaggerated and biased since she was the one describing it!
Another thing that also fascinated me was the fact that she crossed paths with her brother. Not only had she never met him but they happened to find each other completely on the other side of the world! Throughout her memoir, it always showed that she found herself in trouble and altercations with people. The tone that she presents it in makes it seem like she was the victim and was always the target but I feel like it has to do with who she was as a person. I could be wrong; maybe people picked on her because of the way she looked and even sounded (Girly).
These are all good questions... and on the most part, hard if not impossible to answer. One thing we can say, however, is that categories such as "transgender" were not available at the time. We can also note how she used her gender fluidity strategically: at times, it seemed to have worked out better for her to present as male; but she took advantage also of the fact that she could "reveal" her femininity at the end.
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